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(No Model.) 2 Sheets -Sheet 1 J. T. WARING.

MAGHINE FOR PELTING HAT BODIES.

No. 320,102. Patented June 16, 1885.

N. PEYER3. Pholo-uflwgnpmr. inking ton, D, C.

2 SheetsSheet 2.

(N0 ModeL) J. T. WARING.

MACHINE FOR FBLTING HAT BODIES.

No. 320,102. Patented'June 16, 1885.

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Ururnn rarns ATFNT I FETCH.

JOHN T. XVARING, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR FELTING HAT=BODIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 320,102, dated June 16,1885.

A ndication filed November 21, 1884.

T aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN T. \VARING, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Felting Hat- Bodies and Other Articles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention is applicable with especial advantage in the earlier stage of the felting process, known as hardening, but is also applicable in the later stages of the process, known to hatters as sizing.

The invention consists in the combination of endless aprons arranged in one or more pairs side by side, with the adjacent faces of the two aprons of each pair in such proximity and at such a degree of obliquity or convergence to each other as to form between the said faces a trough or trough-like space in which the hats or other articles to be felted may, when moistened and rolled up, lie and be retained while they are subjected to a gentle rolling operation by the friction thereon consequentupon the movement of the said faces in opposite directions. To facilitate this rolling operation,one of the aprons may have a greater velocity than the other, and to regulate the operation, they may be adjustable to vary the angle of inclination or convergence.

The invention also consists in certain details in combination with such aprons, as will be hereinafter described.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a felting-machine constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same, parallel with Fi 1. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Fig. 4c is a vertical sectional view of a pair of aprons arranged somewhat differently from those shown in the previously-described figures. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a machine of the same character as that shown in Fig. 1, but having three aprons, which virtually constitute two pairs.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

I will first describe the machine illustrated in Figsl, 2, and 3.

A is the framing of the machine, on the sides of which there are journal-boxes a a for the journals of the lower rollers, D D*, on

(No model.)

which run the two inclined endless aprons, B 13*, and there are also erected standards 0 O, in which are supported the bearings cl (1*, for the journals of the upper rollers, D D*, on which the said aprons run.

The aprons may be of cloth, india-rubber fabric, or other suitable material, and of any suitable width, the rollers, which may be of wood or metal, being of proper length to support and carry them. The several rollers are relatively so arranged that there is a trough or troughlike cavity, T, formed between the adj accnt converging or relatively-oblique faces b b of the two aprons, the said faces forming the sides of the said trough or cavity. The outer surfaces of the aprons may be either furnished with lags c c, as represented, or may be smooth or have any kind of uneven surface that may be found desirable.

Motion may be given to the said aprons in any suitable manneras, for instance, by gearing, such as f g h, applied to the lower rollers, D D*, whereby the two aprons may have their adjacent converging faces I) b move in opposite directions, one upward and the other downward, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 1, and they may be so geared together or driven that the downwardly-moving faces 1f may move faster than the upwardly-moving face I), and that there may so be produced by the greater velocity of the downwardlyunoving face a tendency to crowd downward between the aprons the roll of hats or other articles to be hardened or felted, which is placed in the trough-like cavity T.

The lower rollers, D D*, are arranged to come so near together that the trough-like cavity T is closed at the bottom, or is at least so narrow there that a roll of hats or other articles placed between the aprons to be felted could not pass through. The bearings for the lower rollers may be fixed, in which case the roll of hats, after having been felted or worked as much as would be desirable in such a machine, would have to be taken out above the aprons; but I have represented the journalboXes (i of the lower roller D arranged to be capable of sliding toward and from those, a, of the lower roller D, to permit the said roller D* and the lower part of the apron B to be drawn forward by the attendant 0f the machine for the purpose of opening the botarm of which is connected, by a rod, 1, with a tre'adle, H. 7

When the bottom of the trough or cavity T is to be opened, the attendant depresses'the treadle and draws forward the roller D When the treadle is released, the roller D* is moved forward to close or contract the opening of the bottom of the trough by means of a weight, I, connected with the lever G by a cord, m, running over a pulley, n. The weight I may be sufficient to hold the roller D* in place and prevent the opening of the trough or cavity T; but buttons or movable stops may be used in front of the boxes a* to keep the trough or cavity closed.

In order to provide for varying the convergence of the opposite faces, I) b*, of the aprons,which constitute the sides of the trough or trough-like cavity T, the boxes 11, which contain the bearings of the upper rollers, as I), of either of the aprons, as B, are made adjustable toward and from the boxes d of the upper roller of the other apron, the said boxes d being fitted to slots 6 in the standards 0, and adjustable in the said slots by means of screws F.

To perform the operation of hardening or sizing in this machine, a number of hat-bodies or other articles are dipped in hot water or liquor and rolled up together loosely, and rolled up in a cloth. The roll R thus formed is placed in the trough T while its bottom is closed and the aprons are in motion, and lying therein, without any pressure above, is caused to be rolled between the faces b b* of the aprons in such a manner as to produce the desired felting effect. During the operation the roll requires to be taken from the trough from time to time, and the hat-bodies or other articles to be taken out, unfolded, redipped, and refolded, and again rolled up and re placed in the trough. When the articles have been hardened or felted sufficiently, the attendant depresses the treadle and so opens the bottom of the trough or trough-like cavity T, and lets the roll drop out.

In the machine illustrated in Fig. 5 the two obliquely-arranged aprons, B B, are placed at a sufficient distance apart to receive between them a third apron, B which is represented as upright and supported by two rollers, E E, in suitable bearings, which may be fixed. These three aprons virtually constitute two pairs, and form two troughs or trough-like cavities, T and T", like that, T, illustrated in Fig. 1-that is to say, the two aprons B B constitute one pair, with a trough, T, between them, and the two B B constitute another pair, with a trough, T between them, The arrows 'in Fig. 3 indicate the directions in which the aprons respectively move.

In order to produce the effect hereinabove described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of crowding down the rolls of hat-bodies or other articles in the troughs by giving the descend ing face of the apron, which forms one side of the trough, a greater velocity than the ascending face of the other apron, which constitutes the other side of the trough, the two outer aprons, B B, in a three-apron machine like that shown in Fig. 3, should have one a greater velocity and the other a less velocity than the middle apron. This may be effected by any suitable system of gearing of the three apronsas, for instance, by the gears p q r s.

The aprons in machines constructed and op erating according to my invention may be arranged to present the opening of the trough or trough-like cavity T, formed between them in a forwarddirection', as shown in Fig. 4, instead of in an upward direction, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5. In Fig. 4 it will be seen that one apron is horizontal and the other inclined above it.

The lags or projectionsprovided on the surfaces of the aprons of these machines may be constructed or arranged to make the aprons present a concave profile in a transverse direction, so that the cavity formed between the working-surfaces of the aprons may bewider at or near the middle of the width of the aprons, and narrower toward the edges thereof.

I am aware that there are in common use felting machines the working surfaces of which are formed by the endless aprons arranged face to face and moving in opposite directions. If the aprons of such machines have been arranged so that their opposed workingsurfaces have been convergent, the convergence has been so light as to be almost imperceptible, and the space between the said aprons has been a nearly parallel passage always open at both ends, and through which the rolls being felted, entering at one end, pass all the way through it and out at the other end, the said passage having nothing in the character of a trough or trough-like cavity like that formed between the apronsin my present machine, and in which the roll lies easily, and is retained during the felting operation by the bottom being closed or nearly closed. Those machines have not to my knowledge been used, and I believe could not be successfully used in that stage of the process known as hardening, for which my present machine is especially adapted, owing to the roll lying so easily in said trough or cavity that it is subject to a very gentle pressure- What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a feltingmachine, of two separate endless aprons with their adjacent faces at an inclination to form between them a trough or trough-like cavity within which a roll of hat-bodies or other articles may lie and be retained while subjected to a rolling motion by the friction of the said faces moving in opposite directions, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, in a felting-machine, of three separate endless aprons, arranged side by side with their adjacent faces convergent to form two troughs or trough-like cavities, and mechanism for driving the said aprons whereby the adjacent faces are caused to move in opposite directions, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. The combination, in a felting-machine, of two separate convergent endless aprons, arranged to form by and between their adjacent faces an open trough or trough-like cavity, and driving mechanismgvhereby the said aprons are driven with their adjacent faces moving in opposite directions at unequal velocities, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with the two separate endless aprons and rollers for supporting them in such manner that the two converge and form between them a trough or trough-like cavity, of means of adjusting either of said aprons to vary the convergence of the said aprons, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination, with the two separate convergent endless aprons and rollers for supporting them in a manner to form between them a trough or troughlike cavity, of means of moving either of the said aprons to open and let out the contents of the said trough or cavity, substantially as herein described.

, JOHN T. AKING.

Vitnesses:

FREDK. HAYNEs, MATTHEW PoLLocK. 

